


S is for Smokejumper

by C130



Series: Alphabet Advent Calendars [1]
Category: Cars (Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: Alphabet, Firefighting Terms, Gen, Or The Cause Trouble Themselves, Trouble Finds Them, smokejumpers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-07 09:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 17,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12838506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C130/pseuds/C130
Summary: From the Serious to the ridiculous, wildland firefighters have a whole lot of specialized terms to describe their job. In this collection of one-shots, we will explore day to day life of the smokejumpers 1 letter of the alphabet at a time. Plus, this is my Christmas gift to you all, so I will be posting nearly a chapter a day to get them all up before Christmas Eve. So let's get ready to ride the silk elevator and join our favorite dirt darts for some adventures.





	1. A is for Anchor and Hold

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note- So I know that I haven't posted for a while, and I also know that some of you are waiting for the next chapter of some of my existing stories. New chapters of those will hopefully be posted soon. In the meantime, I hope that you will enjoy this collection of 26 shorts. I have collected them over the past year as I came across firefighting terms that sparked my muse's attention. And so I present you with my Christmas gift to all you readers.
> 
> Disclaimer- I do not own one/where/thing in the Cars/Planes Universe. I also am not a firefighter...I just hang out with them when I do search and rescue, so some of their terminology rubs off. Also, this piece is currently unbetaed and cross-posted with Fanfiction.net.

Cabbie had always said that fighting a fire was a lot like fighting a war, except in firefighting you often had more opportunities to retreat. Unfortunately, it looked like today retreating wasn't going to be a viable option because smokejumpers had parachuted into a neighborhood that was in the process of being evacuated. If they couldn't protect the choke point, civilians were going to get trapped in the inferno, and unlike members of the Air Attack Team those civilians were not wearing heat protective paint or carrying any of the fire protective gear. In short, if those civilians got trapped in the fire they didn't have a chance.

"Okay people, I need some ideas!" Dynamite shouted at her team as they plowed through shrubbery and fences in the hope of putting a barrier between the homes and the encroaching flames.

For a few long moments, no one spoke a peep as they bent their blades and rakes to the work at tire. Then Drip of all people spoke up. "We could Anchor and Hold."

"We don't have an engine and by slag, we don't have the hose." Dynamite pointed out.

"We may not have the engine, but we do have sprinklers, and we do have a boatload of garden hose." Pinecone added as she let her eyes sweep across the houses to the frightened families trapped gridlocked streets beyond. "With us not tapping the hydrants the municipal lines probably have enough water pressure to at least by the time."

"What about staffing, we don't have enough people to turn on all of those sprinklers."

"THE WE GET SOME OF THE LOCALS TO HELP." Avalanche pointed out the obvious. "THEY CAN BREAK INTO THE GARAGES AND TURN ON THE SPRINKLERS. THEY CAN ALSO HELP TRACK DOWN THE GARDEN HOSES FOR US SO WE CAN CONCENTRATE ON MAKING THE FIREBREAK."

Dynamite wanted to swear. Everything in this situation went against her training. You did not use untrained staff, and as a smokejumper, you did not use water to fight a wildfire. But they didn't have time to do a back burn and they sure as slag didn't have the manpower to combat this blaze alone. It was time to throw the rule book out the window.

Glancing at her team she let the new plan take form. She couldn't spare any of her heavy lifters to wrangle the volunteers and Blackout was her only saw which meant that she needed to keep him in reserve. That meant that she only had one member to spare. 

"Drip, I need you to drop what you are doing and organize volunteer effort. I need them to turn on every single lawn sprinkler on the street and start pulling out hoses and attaching them to houses. Get what work you can out of them, but don't let them engage the fire, I repeat; you will not let any of the volunteers engage the fire directly. The moment that the sky starts raining embers I want to know that you have pushed the convoy at least halfway down the mountain." Dynamite drove her message home.

"Wilco." The Skid Steer acknowledged the order by throwing the load of brush that he had in his claws onto the burn side of the line and making a break towards the road.

Dynamite didn't watch. Instead, she turned her attention towards the approaching wall of flame. "Alright, ground pounders, it is time to earn our hazard pay. We are going to anchor in at this point. Avalanche, Pinecone, I need you two to do a pump and run maneuver from this point heading south. Take it down to dirt.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?" Avalanche asked, his blade already down and taking out a swath of rosebushes.

"I am going to hold the anchor." Dynamite replied grabbing the nearby garden hose her teeth and starting to wet down the nearby red brick home. "Move out!"

It would be touch and go for over an hour, and they would lose a hand full of houses but civilians got out and the line held. The Piston Peak Team was mighty proud of the work that did that day…still, man, were those jumpers happy to see the headlights of the county interface engines coming towards them through the smoke to tap them off the line.

* * *

 _ **Term**_ \- Anchor and Hold-  _This fire tactic is believed to have originated in California as a way to successfully protect neighborhoods during a fire. When a unit Anchors and Holds they have one engine hook up to a hydrant and pour as much water as they can on the head of the fire, while the other units do a pump and roll maneuver to extend the protected area. None of the smokejumpers are fire trucks, engines, tankers, or tenders, so they had to get a bit creative when they implemented the plan, but as long as a fire break_   _has been put in place the sprinkler and garden hose method of protecting a neighborhood can be a viable option to slow the spread of a fire._


	2. B is for Bowling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is rough having to fight the fire and then mop up after wards...but the job only gets more complicated when everyone is tired, and you add the occasional flying rock.

On days like this everybody wished they had a Type II Crew to mop up the mess for them, but the Piston Peak's Air Attack Base budget was so low that they were lucky to have enough personal to meet the minimums for a jump crew. So, while any other jump crew in the US would have already tapped out and headed back to base, confident that other firefighters were controlling the scene, Pinecone and the rest of her crew were still slogging it out in the ash making sure that the fire was thoroughly dead.

Spending 72 hours straight on the fire line would be exhausting for anyone, but this was their fifth fire this month…and it was only the second week of July. While Dynamite had been doing a good job of rotating everyone out to give them a couple of hours of shuteye, it was difficult to sleep with your filters clogged up with ash, and everyone was usually back on the line after a short nap. Avalanche was doing his darndest to keep everyone awake and moving by telling stories about their jump plane that he had found on the internet. But eventually, the dozer's voice began to become hoarse with the effort. The gentle digger knew the given time even most exciting war stories wouldn't hold a candle to their exhaustion.

Pinecone had just been tapped out again and headed to a flat area at the bottom of the slope where they jumpers had struck a temporary camp. She was asleep almost as soon as her tires stopped turning and was enjoying a quiet dream about meandering through the glade behind her house at home. Pinecone was just imagining what the wildflowers around her would smell like, when she heard a terrifying cracking and crashing sound.

Her eyes immediately sprang open just in time to see a boulder about twice Avalanches size, and probably at least six times his weight, appear a hairs breath in front of her. Before anyone else had a chance to act, Pinecone reversed to give herself more space from the still quivering rock. Glancing up the mountain, she quickly located the culprit.

"Drip, next time you try to go bowling for crew mates at least give us a warning!" Pinecone shouted up the hill in frustration.

"Roger." A slightly embarrassed sounding Drip replied after a few piston beats.

And with that, everyone got back to work. Dynamite made her way down to what remained of the camp and gave Pinecone a look over. When it was clear that there wasn't a scratch on the telehandler, Pinecone decided to hit the slopes again. After all, it wasn't like she was going to get much sleep after that intense of an adrenalin rush.

The junior member of the team was pretty quiet the rest of the afternoon, but she knew that there would be time to raze the skid steer about the accident when they got back to base. Right now they needed to focus on the hard work of making sure that all the embers were contained and that the fire they had just spent the last three days getting under control wasn't going to flare back up the moment that they finally had a chance to sack out on their own sleeping mats.

* * *

 _ **Term-**  _Bowling-  _Bowling is a term that is used to describe the moments that someone who is higher up on the slope knocks a very large rock down on the rest of the crew. I have been on a crew or two where a member decided to go 'bowling'. Everyone on the team really stayed on their toes after the second boulder whizzed by. This type of scenario is most commonly seen in areas with high slopes...like Piston Peaks National Park...so I doubt that this was the first nor the last time that Drip will try to take out one of the jumpers with a rock._


	3. C is for Cumulus Overtimus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The smokejumpers hold the first meeting of the Piston Peak Cloud Appreciation Society.

 

Working fires tended to be extreme lengths of boredom punctuated periods of extreme adrenaline. At the moment, the Piston Peak Smokejumpers were definitely experiencing the former. The sky had been cool, clear, and dry for days, the tourist had been well behaved, and the smokejumpers had run out of chores that needed doing. After the jumper's dirt ramps started to crowd the runway, Blade finally got fed up with the lot and assigned them homework…which was why the entire team was sitting out on the apron staring up at the gathering clouds.

"I THINK THAT THAT ONE LOOKS LIKE A TEAPOT."

"De verdad?" Blackout leaned to one side on his tires and squinted up at the cloud that Avalanche was pointing out. "Don't see it. A chair maybe, but not a teapot."

"IT IS TOTALLY A TEAPOT."

"I am pretty sure that one is also is just another cumulous cloud." Pinecone rolled her eyes as she continued to read through the cloud field guide. Unlike the rest of her teammates, the telehandler was determined to avoid the Chief's ire by passing his test on the first try.

"Well, if you are going to be such a party pooper than we are not going to invite you to be a member of the Piston Peak Chapter of the Cloud Appreciation Society." Drip stuck out his tongue to emphasize his point, which Pinecone didn't even notice because she didn't bother looking up from the book.

"Since when did the park have a chapter of the CAS?"

"SINCE MARU SUGGESTED IT AT LUNCH." Avalanche announced proudly, before wildly waving at another cloud on the horizon. "OOOO, THAT ONE LOOKS LIKE CAD BEING CHASED BY A STEAMROLLER!"

That observation, of course, caused the three male smokejumpers on the team to dissolve into a prolonged argument about the finer points of cloud spotting. By this point Pinecone had completely tuned them out. She had grown up in a family of brothers, and the skills of ignoring her siblings had proved useful when she worked the fire line.

It was only when the sky started to darken slightly, that Pinecone finally stopped reading and took a good look at her surroundings. Blocking the sun there was cloud that was quickly towering above anything else on the landscape. Even as Pinecone watched, the cloud started take a distinctive anvil shape and if she squinted she could spot the flicker of lightning lurking just beneath the clouds surface. If she had any doubt what she was looking at, the distant rumble of thunder completely dispelled it.

"That is a perfect example of Cumulus Overtimus cloud if I have ever seen one." Dynamite said from just behind Pinecone, which of course caused her to jump and nearly drop her book. Once the telehandler had regained her composure the team captain eyed her crew and started to give orders. "Okay boys, let's go make sure that our gear is ready to roll!"

None of the Smokejumpers had to be told twice.

* * *

_**Term**_ \- Cumulus Overtimus-  _a nickname for a Cumulonimbus cloud, otherwise known as a thunderstorm. As Windlifter says 'Thunder brings lighting, and lightning brings fire.' Dynomite would probably add 'and fire brings overtime' to that statement because the more fires out the longer a smokejumper_ tends _to spend in the field stomping them out._

_On a completely different note the Cloud Appreciation Society is a real thing. If you have a moment check them out._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I am thinking of adding a couple of bonus chapters to this collection. So if you have any ideas and you would like a neatly wrapped plot bunny in your stocking please drop me a line.


	4. D is for Deployment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you fight fires long enough eventually you run out of luck…and Dynamite was dealing with the cold realization that the Piston Peak's Smokejumpers bag of luck had just come up empty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. This actually is the story that inspired started the whole process. To be honest, it is still one of my favorites. It involves one of the most stressful events that a wildland firefighter can experience. I hope that you will also find it interesting.

If you fight fires long enough eventually you run out of luck…and Dynamite was dealing with the cold realization that the Piston Peak's Smokejumpers bag of luck had just come up empty. The fire had just jumped the line, both their evacuation routes had been cut off, and the flames were barreling down them like a beast from hell. For a moment that seemed like a short eternity, she stared at their misfortunate, her brain simply trying to get traction. Then her eyes met Avalanches, and he gave her a swift nod of understanding. The dozer turned and started yelling orders freeing his Captain to call in reinforcements.

_"Blade, we've got a problem!"_  Dynamite shouted into the radio, as her lieutenant helped the rest of the team prepare for the worst scenario.  _"The fire has just jumped the line, and we have been cut off from our evacuation route. We could really use some air support."_

_"We have are currently on final at the Base to tank back up. We can be back over you location in 15 minutes."_  The Chief sounded concerned, but he laid out the facts.

_"I really don't think that we have that long..."_  Smokejumper captain started, then nearby snag exploded into flames, and Dynamite knew that they were out of time. "Deploy, deploy, deploy! Everyone under!"

Then she let her own training take over and hoped that she had given her team enough time to practice this skill that they would need to survive this emergency that they would be able to complete their duties perfectly.  _"The fire is on us, I repeat, the fire is on us. We have deployed our fire shelters, I repeat, we have deployed."_

_"Understood."_  Blade spoke, and Dynamite could hear the sound of aircraft engines being redlined in the background.  _"We will get you air support as quickly as possible. ETA for Dipper is 10 minutes. Stay on the line and let us know when you hear our engines."_

_"Wilco. We will remain on the radio as long as possible."_  As she spoke Dynamite allowed her eyes to scan across her people, making sure that everyone's fire shelters had been properly deployed. Then she turned her rear tires to the approaching flames, snugged the foil over the top of her frame, and pressed herself side against Avalanche and Drip's flanks.

And not a moment too soon…only seconds after the team leader had gotten into position the first wave of flames reach them huddle, covering them in a torrent of sparks and flying embers. In the darkness, Dynamite could feel her teammates flinch at the sound and hear as their breaths caught in their intakes, but they all stayed put under their shelters. They all remained calm. They remained like that, for a good five minutes until the rain of embers abated.

"Everyone okay!?" Sure that they had entered the eye of the firestorm, Dynamite called out. There was a motley reply of affirmatives. Most of the words all blended together, with the notable exception of Avalanche whose report of 'I'M FINE,' could have probably been heard a valley over.

"Good, well boys we made it through the first front of the fire. All we need to do is sit tight for one more and we will be in the black." There were a few affirmative murmurs, and the waiting game began again.

The second wave of fire screamed through the forest with the thunder of a freight train. The flames wiped the surrounding air into a firestorm, and the 60+ mile an hour winds buffed their flimsy shelters. Still, the foil held. The team smokejumpers could hear the whooshing sound of trees bursting into flames and the roar of flashover, but the foil still held.

That didn't stop the things in the shelter from becoming incredibly uncomfortable. The temperatures inside of the shelters had climbed to over a 160 degrees, which was far more survival than the 1,000+ degrees air surrounding them, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable. In the extreme heat, it was getting harder and harder to breath. At first, Dynamite tried to fight it, tried to take deep breaths of that baking air, but as she felt the vehicles around her still, she allowed herself to follow. Whether she woke up later in the burned out forest or in the hereafter, the ATV found comfort in the fact that she would be doing it with her team.

* * *

_**Term-**_  Deployment-  _There are few words that can cause a firefighter's blood turn cold like the announcement that a group on the line were forced to deploy. It means that they were trapped by the approaching flames with no way to retreat. To make the whole situation worse, the people who are trapped may be unable to let the outside world know if they survived for over an hour as they wait for the firestorm to pass over them. Even though the emergency fire shelters actually have a remarkable survival rate given the extreme conditions that the lightweight foil tents withstand, using one does not guarantee survival especially if it is not set up properly. As a result of all of the wildland firefighters, I know train with practice fire shelters on a regular basis while hoping they will never, ever have to use the ones in the kit. If you would like to learn more about deployment and how it works, I would suggest checking out the movie 'Only the Brave'._


	5. E is for Eggballs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blackout is once again reminded while pretty much everyone else on base should never be allowed in the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, when I mentioned that I was going to try to post 'almost' every day in the story description, this past weekend was why. I was at a conference and was hoping that I was going to have access to the internet. Those hopes were dashed pretty quickly. So to make it up to everyone, I am going to give you a double post today, so watch for another chapter this evening. Until then enjoy this morning's story. This particular story kind of started as a plot bunny that showed up when I was reading AmbulanceRobots' story War Stories (which are great and you should totally read them). In passing, she mentioned Blackout's cooking and my muse decided that someone needed to expand on that.

**E is for Eggballs**

* * *

Everyone working at Piston Peak Air Attack Team knew that their base was basically being held together using bailing wire and duct tape. If things were going to get done everyone was going to pitch in and do it, whether it was in their job description or not. Drip scrubbed out the latrines; Cabbie and Avalanche were in charge of keeping runways clear and in good condition. Pinecone kept the larders stocked, and Dynamite kept the website updated. And everyone on the team helped to keep everything clean.

Historically everyone had also helped out in the kitchen, but after living on base for several field seasons, it was pretty clear to all of the smokejumpers why Blackout was permanently on kitchen duty. After the smokejumper had discovered that Cabbie tended to cook everything at least 10 minutes past the well-done stage, Avalanche seemed to think that salt was the only seasoning in the cupboard, Drip appeared to be allergic to cooking with vegetables, and Dynamite actually managed to start a kitchen fire while trying to boil water…

It had taken a while for Blackout to realize why everyone on his new crew had been so willing to put up with his 5-alarm chili. After he had tried what the rest of the crew had tried to pass off as food, he was perfectly willing to take on that role…it insured that the food would at least be edible if he cooked it. Unfortunately, there were times when Blackout was unable to complete his cooking duties….like when he was stuck in the mechanic's bay with a damaged drive train…such as this particular morning…

Staring at the tray that Maru had brought him from the main hanger, Blackout was once again reminded of what Blade's cardinal kitchen sin was…eggballs… The jumper had no clue where their Chief had gotten his 'culinary training,' but the helicopter seemed to think that civilized vehicles were perfectly willing to eat a breakfast that was served using an ice cream scoop.

"It is not that bad." Maru shrugged as he dug into his own tray of eggs and soggy potatoes that Blackout suspected were supposed to be hash browns. After managing to swallow a spoonful of the bland glop, Blackout had to disagree. Hopefully, he would be out of the shop early enough to rescue lunch from Helitanker.

* * *

_**Term-**_  Eggballs-  _Describing a meal, often breakfast, served using an ice cream scoop. Often found on or near active firelines where the kitchen crews are more concern about feeding everyone a lot of food quickly instead of food quality. It is generally inadvisable to eat eggballs just before taking a helicopter flight directly over the fireline because the rough air tends to help you 'enjoy' the food twice._


	6. F is for Fireworks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Piston Peaks Air Attack Team could survive a lot, but even they had their limits...especially when an error messes with their coffee supply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised here is the second story of the day. The heart of this story is a based off of a real experience that I had when I was working as a scientist. There was only one road that could be used to bring in supplies, and a bridge washed out isolating us from the rest of the world. We managed to jury-rig things for a while, but then we ran out of coffee and things got...interesting. Well enough about me, and on to the story. I hope that you enjoy it!

**F is for Fireworks**

* * *

Blade was pissed, and you didn't even need to know him to see it. The helicopter's blades were practically quivering and the Chief's normally ice glare was now practically volcanic. The only comfort that the members of the Piston Peak Air Attack team had was that none of that anger pointed in their direction. No, the group that was just about to feel the full ire of the Chief Blade Ranger's wrath was the accounting department, and the sad thing was they probably didn't have a clue what type of tongue lashing they were in for.

The root for the current situation was 'simple' error that had occurred when the superintendent had insisted that the accounting department switch financial software. When the migrated the staff to the new payroll system, someone had forgotten to include the members of the Air Attack Team. This had meant that no one on base had received their July paycheck.

While most departments in the park could have weathered the mistake without too much of a problem, the Air Attack Base was functioning on a razor-thin budget. They could usually afford to cover the cost of fuel and filters, but they were paying for most of life's necessary luxuries out of their own wallets. From soap in the power washer to toilet paper, the various members of the base usually pitched in a portion of their salary to cover the cost.

As things ran out everyone had either gotten creative or simply gone without. After all, they were a team, and they had managed to hold the base together in some pretty intense situations. When the accounting team stated that they would correct the mistake by doubling their next pay check, everyone had resigned themselves to just weather the situation. Then they had run out of coffee…and everything hit the fan.

The coffee withdrawals themselves had been something fierce. Everyone on base was dealing with a throbbing headache, but the heaviest consumers were clearly suffering. Cabbie's headache had blossomed into a blinding migraine that had grounded the cargo plane. Maru anxiety had spiked as he worked through his fatigue caused mental fog, and Blade looked like was ready to kill something.

Everyone on base was pretty darn miserable. Then they got news that the accounting department was going to be sending a couple of vehicles up to conduct the annual park inventory, and it felt like karma. In a small way they were going to get even, and while the Air Attack members were still going to give the Chief a wide berth until they managed to smuggle more coffee on base, that didn't mean that Maru and the jumpers intended to miss Blade chewing out number crunchers. In fact, they had already popped the popcorn and picked out a front row seat. Perched on the top of Windlifters's Hanger, they were going to sit back and watch the fireworks.

* * *

 _ **Term-**_  Fireworks-  _Some arguments smolder, others explode. When you sit back and watch a particularly intense fight you don't have to wait for the 4th of July to see fireworks flying._


	7. G is for Geek Net

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cabbie sends Dynamite and the smokejumpers on a detour that makes their day a bit more interesting.

 

When Dynamite had started working at the Piston Peaks, she had made a whole lot of assumptions. Some of them, like the fact Blade kind of had a stick up his aft when it came to safety proved to be true. Others, like the idea that Maru didn't have a sense of humor, proved to be completely off base. One of the things of the initial impressions that proved to be wildly wrong was the assumption that their jump plane was lonely.

By the time Dynamite had become the team leader, it had finally dawned on her that Cabbie was monitoring at least 6 and sometimes as many as 14 radio channels…at the same time… When he was hooked up to his big radio system he was participating in 4 conversations, simultaneously. It was a skill that left Dynamite in awe because she usually became task saturated trying to keep track of three radio challenges (the general air attack, jumper, and Cabbie's private channels). Cabbie knew this, so he tended filter and summarize information for her, so it wasn't too surprising for her to get a message from him as her team headed home from the fire line.

" _Dynamite, would you mind making a quick stop on your way back on the barn."_

"Sure, what do you need?" The ATV barely managed to stifle a yawn. After a night in the woods, she was really going to enjoy a power wash and catching a nap on her own sleeping mat.

_"A grounder perspective."_  The former warplane said with an implied shrug.  _"Let me know when you get to the Swinging Bridge Camp and Picnic site."_

"Roger that. Dynamite out." Dynamite looked around and realized that her team was less than 500 yards away from the Swinging Bridge Campsite turn off. She glanced up and spotted a familiar set of twin tails circling above them. The ATV snickered, wondering just how long their jump plane had been shadowing them. He must have either used his ninja skills to sneak up on them, or her team had been a whole lot more exhausted than she had realized. Giving the red 51 in the wing one more glance, Dynamite gave her full attention to the rest of her team. "So, boys it looks like our Uncle has a couple of tasks for us to get done."

The detour was an easy one to make, and honestly, the whole group was due for a quick refueling break anyway. As they drove in Dynamite scanned her surroundings looking for whatever had captured Cabbies attention. There were a few more dead and dying trees than most of the other campsites, but it had been a warmer than normal year so the number of snags was within an acceptable range.

"Okay Cabbie, we are here. What are we looking…" Dynamite started her report as she parked herself on the edge of a clearing, but was interrupted by a dozer staring trunk of one of the dead trees.

"HM, THAT IS ODD?"

_"Avalanche, what are you seeing?"_ The plane above them asked.

"AN INSECT THAT I DON'T RECOGNIZE."

_"Can you describe it?"_ Cabbie pushed, a nervous energy creeping into his voice.

Avalanche opened his mouth, but Drip beat him to the punch. "For one thing is pretty darn big and it has really, really long antenna that are black and white stripes, and they have little white spots on its wings."

_"I was what I was worried about."_  The old plane's tone made it pretty clear that he really wanted to swear.  _"Looks like I didn't call you out here Chief for nothing."_

_"What do we have?"_  The helicopter's blades thundered as he came in for the approach.

_"Looks like we have an Asian Longhorn Beetle infestation."_

_"Good catch."_

_"I wouldn't have even been watching it if the Forest Service hadn't given me the heads up."_  Cabbie wiggled his wings above them.  _"Apparently the beetles have been hitchhiking into their campgrounds on contaminated firewood."_

_"What are our options?"_  Dynamite interjected herself back into the conversation, because as much as she loved her flying co-workers, this was probably this particular issue was probably land in front of her tires.

_"The chemical treating the forest is going to be way out of our budget, and it is only partially effective anyway."_  Cabbie paused for a long moment before he voiced his true opinion.  _"I think our only option is to burn this part of the forest to prevent the insect from spreading, inspecting the other campgrounds to make sure that they haven't been infected, and then banning vehicles from bringing in their own firewood to prevent new outbreaks."_

"IS BANNING OUTSIDE FIREWORK GOING TO BE FINE WITH THE HIGHER-UPS?" Avalanche didn't spell out who he meant by higher-ups, but he didn't need to. The only person in the park that would want to micromanage this particular scenario was the Superintendent.

_"Naw, he will be fine with it."_ The aircraft chuckled. _"After all, banning outside firewood means that he can charge people through the nose for it at concessions."_

_"True…"_ Blade practically spat.  _"Which just means that we have to convince him to allow us to light a piece of his precious forests on fire to prevent the pest from spreading."_

_"What the Super doesn't know won't hurt him."_  Cabbie shrugged.  _"And if we are really put in a pickle we can ask the Forest Service boys to start a controlled burn on their side of the fence and let it run a little wild."_

"How about we ask Jammer first?" Dynamite cut in, imagining just how many miles of fire line her team would have to cut in order to make sure that the fire went 'wild' in the correct direction. "I am sure that he could arrange for this campsite to be closed for maintenance mid-week. We could do a controlled burn then."

_"And Cad?"_  Blade asked, clearly considering the option.

"What about him? He hasn't paid attention to the causes for fires, as long as we get them knocked back before too many park visitors complain. Why would he change is MO now?

_"True, true."_  Blade admitted thoughtfully, and then the helitanker launched into his orders.  _"Well Dynamite, hassle your team back to base. Once you have managed to make yourself presentable, we will get Jammer on the horn and see if we can come up with a plan to nip this infestation before it becomes too big of a problem."_

"Wilco. Dynamite out." Dynamite cut the radio channel and turned her attention to her jumpers. "You heard the boss. Let's vamooses back to base. We need to go get cleaned up for company."

* * *

_**Term-**_  Geek Net- T _here are a whole lot of groups that talk to each other using radios, but when you are working a fire things get particularly nerdy when Park Service and Forest Service personal start chatting. They tend to pass on a lot of technical information back and forth between them, such as giving each other a heads up about bark beetle infestation. From my experience both the Park Service and the Forest Service personal tend to be long-winded when they get on the horn so I suspected that Cabbie would be the only one on base who would have the patience to wade through shear about of information to get the nuggets of useful information. As a result, Blade is happy to leave him with that responsibility._


	8. H is for Humping It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The smokejumper realize that sometimes it is more challenging to catch a ride than it is to just hike to the next fire.

It was noon, and the fire was finally stomped out. While it had been technically a small fire, the high slopes meant it had been nearly impossible for Piston Peak's aircraft to make effective drops. Every time they tried to come in for a dump they would be caught in air currents coming off the backside of the ridge and sink dangerously close to the ground. The early morning winds had been so bad today, that Cabbie hadn't even tried to drop them on the correct side of the cliff and dropped them on the windward side of the mountain where his wings could get a better purchase. The smokejumpers had hiked from there.

Relieved, that they had gotten the job done Dynamite got on the radio to let Patch know that they were heading back to base. As she spoke she scanned the surrounding slopes to try to find a path down to the closest road that didn't hold a high risk of breaking an axel. She didn't get the reply that she was hoping for.

"Great, we have another fire for you to work on." Was Patch's clipped response, then the dispatcher bit out a list of GPS coordinates for the captain.

As Dynamite spread out one of her park maps to figure out exactly where they were headed next, the entire smokejumper team gathered around to watch her. She tuned out the joking and munching sounds that they were making. After plotting everything out, she discovered that the new fire was less than 2.5 miles, as the crow flew, from their current location. Yes, there were some nasty looking cliffs that they would have to navigate, but nothing that her team wouldn't be able to either scale or navigate around. She rolled back to give her the rest of her teammates a good look at the map.

"What do you think boys, should we hump it?" Dynamite asked her team, as the jumpers took a good look at the possible options.

"I SAY THAT WE HUMP IT." Avalanche rumbled.

"I agree, I think that this is one of those times when we are going to get their faster bushwhacking than jumping." Pinecone added. "I mean even if we manage to snag a ride when we get to the road it will take at least three hours to get back to base. If we push it, we could probably get across the bottom of the valley and to the fire in two."

With the two heaviest members of the team, announcing that they were willing to make the trek the decision had been made. They were going to leg it directly to the fire.

* * *

The jumpers would finally back to base two additional spot fires later at 1 in the morning. As always, Cabbie had stayed up for them. Sitting on the tarmac, he took one sniff of his little dirt darts and shooed them towards the power washer. The entire team had been too tired to argue…in fact, Dynamite was pretty sure that she fallen asleep in pounding water and steam.

She awoke the next morning with absolutely no memory of making it to the jumper hanger and she had woken up halfway on her sleeping mat, which that her team had probably groggy put her to bed the previous night. Listening to the choirs of snores around her, she decided the best way to say thank you would be to make grab them coffee. She was just about to the main hanger when Patch gave the alarm.

"Your team ready to go?" Blade asked, eyeing the exhausted looking jump captain.

"Give us 15 minutes and we will."

"Understood." The Chief replied, and then he turned his attention to the largest member of the base. "Cabbie, the tankers are going to head out to the fire that is threatening the campground on the north side of Anchor Lake. When the Jumpers are ready follow us out."

"Wilco." Cabbie gave the Chief a slight waggle of his wings and went to park himself in front of the jumpers…another day of fighting fires had begun.

* * *

_**Term-**_  Humping It-  _While it is great to get a ride where you need to go, wildland firefighters don't always have that option. When they don't have the right type of vehicle to transport them, they have to hump their gear up the hill to the fireline instead._


	9. I is for Iron Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dynamite is undercaffeinated and Drip is looking for trouble.

They had been in such a rush this morning that they had deployed without their wake up cup of coffee, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that sleep deprivation and under-caffeination was a really bad combination. Luckily Drip did have a solution to one of the two problems. As his fellow Smokejumpers cleared a line the forest floor to the mineral soil, he drained his canteen a couple of gulps.

Then Drip made an announcement to the group. "Does anyone need their canteens refilled?"

Both Dynamite and Blackout did, so Drip collected them and headed to a nearby stream. He filled the canteens with the cold, clear water, then dropped an iodine tablet in each container to disconnect the water. Last, he pulled out some instant coffee packets. He added two of the packets each canteen; then he paused thoughtfully. He still had plenty of packets, and there was no reason for him to be stingy with the caffeine…especially when the captain of his team was involved. Pulling out another five coffee packets he dumped them all into Dynamite's canteen and headed back to the fire line.

"The bottle needs another 20 minutes before it done disinfecting." Drip indicated as he dropped off his fellow jumpers' water and went back to work.

Everyone worked quietly for a while. They were tired and just wanted to get the job done so that they could fuel up and sleep. Most the jumpers spent the time ruminating on their own thoughts, but Drip was preoccupied with waiting. The wait proved to be worth it. Dynamite took an absent-minded gulp from her canteen, which was followed by an impressive geyser of liquid as she half choked on the unexpected flavor.

"Drip!" Dynamite coughed out as she tried to suck in air.

"Yes." Guilty party paused from where he was removing a thicket of underbrush, and tried to act like he was innocent.

"Next time, warn me when you decide to serve up a canteen of Iron Man." Dynamite mocked glared. She took another sip of the bitter brew, fully prepared for the slightly gritty liquid in her canteen. Then, like the rest of the team, the smokejumper captain got back to work.

* * *

 **Term-**  Iron Man- _When doing field work we had a saying, 'Coffee is necessary for science, while beer was necessary for fun.' Turns out this is also true in the wildfire service. When you can't get a hot cup of joe they will make up for the lack of caffeine by putting instant coffee packets (sometimes several of them) into the cold water in their canteens. The wildfire fighters I know tend to call this concoction Iron Man, the Air Force Pilots call it combat coffee, and the Marines simply refer to it as Breakfast._


	10. J is for Jump Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again Cabbie was reminded why he never had a desire to become an Air Boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you have read any of my other stories, you probably notice that I really enjoy writing for Cabbie. Part of it is because I have always adored C-119's, the other part is I have hung out with way too many transport pilots. The inspiration for this story actually came from an evening around the campfire with one of them when the base was completely socked in with fog. After a few stories were swapped he shared the story about when he was the jump pilot on a fire that had 8 tankers and 0 lead planes or Air Bosses. Because of the on spoken rules of the air, he had gotten stuck over the fire for hours guiding and deconflicting traffic. It was apparently the most exhausting day of his life. Which of course met I had to find a way for Cabbie to one-up him. Hope you enjoy! :)

Like with any organization, Air Attack teams had a host hierarchy and unspoken rules that were completely invisible to the uninitiated. Unfortunately for Cabbie, these unofficial rules tended him far responsibility and clout that he was particularly interested in. Today, those responsibilities were biting him in the aft.

The National Interagency Fire Center had gone to Preparedness Level 5 over two weeks ago, every resource available was mobilized and sent to battle the worst of the fires including the members of Piston Peak Air Attack Team. Cabbie had been sent south with Dynamite, Avalanche, and Drip to provide additional support for a Cal-fire team near Santa Barbara.

Even though this part of the line was pretty understaffed, the jumpers were able to complete their mission of knocking back spot fires caused by flying embers. While the dirt darts were busy, Cabbie and his fellow jump planes (a pair of shorts out of Montana) flew cargo and did supply drops to the deployed hotshot and smokejumper teams.

The old C-119 would have been content to continue flying cargo, but on day four of the fire the Air Boss had gone down with a bird strike. With every single lead plane in a hundred mile radius tasked spot and track the fires and only one legacy jump ship working this fire, command and control of the airspace was immediately transferred to Cabbie.

Once again, the former warplane was reminded why he would never, ever volunteer to become a full-time Air Boss. It was hard enough to keep the various tankers and SEATs from running into each other, but the stress of having to constantly circle the fire making sure that civilian aircraft were staying well away from the flight paths was giving him a pounding headache. Not that he had time to give it any attention. Cabbie had barely been able to squeeze in a couple of refuelings throughout the day.

It was well into twilight by the time that Cabbie's tires were finally able to kiss the tarmac, the last plane back to the rural airstrip that had been claimed as their temporary base. His paint job was soot-covered, and there were pockmarks on his belly from where hot ash had hit his skin. Maru was going to have a hissy fit about that when he finally got back to Piston Peak, but at the moment the only thing on the C-119's mind was getting some fuel in his empty tanks and racking out for the night.

Cabbie pulled off the runway and turned on to the crowded apron, when one of the military C-130 tankers flagged him down. "Your kids are causing trouble again."

"What mess have they gotten into this time?" The plane sighed, settled lower on his tires. He really was exhausted, but the jumpers were his responsibility, and he would do his best make sure that they stayed safe.

"Defending your honor again." The tanker admitted somewhat sheepishly. Cabbie let a full groan out with that piece of news. It looked like dinner wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"I will take care of it." The old plane said with resignation, as he turned to the hanger that the various smokejumper teams had claimed as their operations hut.

Cabbie heard his team long before he saw them, which was impressive because Avalanche was in charge of the jumper team manning the park. Though, on the other wing, Cabbie shouldn't have been too surprised. To say that smokejumper teams were competitive would be like saying that Dusty was fast. While they would like their all into keeping a fire contained, the moment they were off the line the different crews constantly jostling to prove who were the top dogs…and currently, there were teams on base to cause trouble.

"Your jump ship is so old it is practically a rust bucket. I am surprised he can even fly, let alone carry your heavy afts." One of the Cal Fire tugs stated.

"Well our 'rust bucket' a hundred times the plane that your ride will ever be." Dynamite shot back.

By the sounds of it, it seemed like the argument between the jump teams was just starting to heat up, which meant it was a perfect time to quash it. The pair of jump planes gave him a look as Cabbie passed by. The two of them had tried to break up these arguments the last couple of evenings with various levels of success, but neither of them had quite the same weight as Jump 51.

"Go to bed." Cabbie announced firmly as he poked his head inside the hanger. All of the gravel munchers froze. They were still covered in dirt and ash from the day's, but tired as they must have been, most of the jumpers had enough survival instinct to keep their mouths shut and head to their sleeping mats.

"Unc…" Drip tried to start, but the withering look from Cabbie caused the jumper's mouth to snap shut. After a few piston beats he finally stammered out a more appropriate response. "Going to bed now, Sir."

"Good." The plane purred dangerously. Sweeping the hanger with his eyes one last time, the C-119 retreated back onto the apron.

That taken care of Cabbie went to go grab some supper, knowing full well he would have to swing by the jumper hanger at least four more times that evening to make sure that one of the 'friendly' arguments didn't end a competition of strength. (He really didn't want to deal with the paperwork of explaining why one or more of the jumpers had gotten injured when they were technically off duty.) But for a few moments he was going to pretend that he wasn't a jump ship, and just enjoy the freedom of only being a cargo plane.

* * *

_**Term-**  _Jump Ship-  _When a smokejumper needs to get to work they take their Jump Ship. Jump Ships can either refer to a helicopter or an aircraft. Also, I briefly mentioned the concept of a Legacy Jump Plane. The number assigned to a particular firefighting aircraft is assigned at the beginning of the fire season and can change from year to year. Aircraft that have legacy status have enough of a storied history that their number is permanently assigned. A great example of this would be Jump 15. That particular plane actually flew missions in the D-Day invasion and other battles in WWII before moving into becoming a smokejumper transport. Jump 15, which was officially named 'Band of Brothers' formally retired from firefighting in 2015 and work is currently being done to help turn it into a flying museum so hopefully, we will be able to see it up close and personal at a future air show._


	11. K is for Kennel Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The superintendent learns why he needs to get a structural fire rig in the park...otherwise know as Cad and Dynamite get into a shouting match.

So, given the look on Cad Spinner's face, it appeared like the superintendent of the park literally had no idea what it took to fight a fire. His facial features seemed to be fluctuating between shock and anger as he surveyed the bulldozed strip of ground between the half-built lodge and burnt out remains of the runaway campfire.

"What did you do!?" The SUV finally managed to sputter.

"We stopped the fire." Dynamite replied as civilly as she could manage, by the looks of it Cad was barely staying in control of his words.

"No."

"No. What?" The smokejumper captain purred dangerously, making sure that she positioned herself between the

"Just no!" Cad vented his frustration the collection of small vehicles in front of him. "I know that you call yourself firefighters, but that…that travesty," Cad motioned towards the fire line, "wasn't firefighting. I mean all you did was dig in the dirt and make a mess. You didn't even try to use water…"

"Listen," Dynamite hissed, "if you want firefighters that put out the flames with water, then you probably should get a couple of structural or interface fire rigs on the payroll, because we literally not built for that type of work."

"AND IT WOULDN'T HURT TO PUT IN A COUPLE OF FIRE HYDRANTS." Avalanche suggested, earning him a glare from both Cad and Dynamite.

"But you are firefighters!" The Superintendent finally growled.

"We are wildland fighters!" Dynamite countered, prepared to dive into even more of a rant when she heard hear radio double click.

_"Cabbie is inbound, get the smokejumpers to the landing strip ASAP."_  Blade Ranger's voice was both commanding and tinny over the radio connection.

"Yes, Sir." Dynamite replied while glancing around. She finally caught a flash of red in one of the lodge windows, and everything clicked together. Blade had been trapped in a meeting where the department heads were discussing the latest series of budget cuts when the alarm had gone out, but that clearly hadn't stopped the Chief from calling up keeping an eye on things.

_"Go get your crew kenneled up."_  Blade sighed, his exhaustion almost palpable.  _"I will deal with Cad after I get out of the finance meeting."_

"Wilco." Dynamite replied as she started to physically herd the smokejumpers towards the "And thanks, boss, we owe you one."

_"Just get your crew out of here before Drip flattens any more of the 'landscaping.'"_ There was a snort from Drip, as Blade spoke which probably meant that whole crew as listening to the radio. As if to punctuate the order, the sound of Cabbie's piston engines came thundering up the valley.

The ATV took this moment to turn to her team and shout out instructions. "Okay boys, you heard the order, lets to the airstrip and kennel up."

"I am not done talking with you." Cad positioned himself in front of the jump captain, blocking her route of escape.

"I am sorry, Sir, but while responding to a fire I do not take orders from you." The little ATV stated as she swerved around the SUV. "If you have any issues with that please take it up with my chain of command."

With that Dynamite took off after her team, who were all booking it towards the airstrip as fast as their tires/treads would carry them. The members of the smokejumper team were all happy that they were about to leave this corner of the park behind and heading back into the wilderness where they felt at home. But even as they fled to the relative safety of Cabbie, Dynamite couldn't help but get a sinking feeling that if the Superintendent didn't start taking fire prevention in the park seriously, there was a very real chance that the lodge they had just rescued wasn't going to last very long.

* * *

_**Term**_ -Kennel Up-  _When the job is done and it is time to leave the fire line, wildland firefighters head to their vehicles. This process of settling back in their ride is often referred to as Kenneling Up, because honestly during some parts of the season a hot shot or smokejumper's ride is as close to home and safety as they are going to get for a while._


	12. L is for Larry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pulaski's Day was going from bad to worse...it was time to call in back up.

Pulaski was having one of those days where he really wished that he could have called in sick and stayed in bed. Unfortunately, when you were the only structural rig in the park, it meant that you couldn't duck out of your duties without a really good reason…and having your partner being out of commission was not considered to be a good reason...even though working completely alone kind of made Pulaski feel naked and exposed. Sadly the fire rig had known that with as short staffed as Piston Peak's National Park was that eventually he would be stuck in this situation.

The current mess started, with the fire alarm going off at 3 am. It turned out to not be a real fire. The alarm had been pulled by a pissed off teenager during a fight with their parents about phone usage. All the guests had been safely ushered out of the building during the impromptu evacuation practice, unfortunately, Rake hadn't been so lucky. The little tug had been sideswiped by a couple of panicking guests on the main ramp. He was currently with the road crew's mechanic, who said that it would take at least two or three days get Pulaski's partner fixed up.

Given the string of bad luck that the fire rig was having, Pulaski probably shouldn't have been too surprised when one the wiring in one of the storage sheds behind the lodge chose that particular day to catch fire. By the time he had been able to roll up, the structure was fully involved and there wasn't enough water in his tank to put it out. He also realized that he didn't have enough hose on him to run a line to the closest hydrant. Tires slag deep in crap, Pulaski realized that he desperately needed help and there was only one group in the park capable of giving it.

"One Larry at the lodge, requesting back up. I say again, one Larry at the lodge, requesting back up. Over."

_"One Larry, this is Air Attack Dispatch. Please state the nature of your back up request."_

Pulaski paused, trying to figure out what the most diplomatic way of stating communicating the mess he was in, and then he decided to throw diplomacy out the window and speak the truth. "I am dealing with a shed fire down at the lodge and it has gotten a bit out of hand and with my partner Rake down with injuries I am pretty sure that I am not going to be able to manage to get it under control by myself…so if you have anyone up there that is free, I would greatly appreciate some help down here…"

There was a long pause, and for a moment Pulaski wondered if the Air Attack Team had hung up on him. Then Air Attack Dispatcher, he was pretty sure that her name was Patch, spoke up.  _"We are getting ready to deploy Smokejumpers to your location, they are 15 minutes out."_

"Thank you." The rig breathed in relief.

 _"You're welcome. Would you like me to remain on the line with you until help arrives?"_ The tug on the other side of the line spoke with a little bit of humor coloring her voice.

"No. I think I will be alright." Pulaski chuckled. "And really, I owe you guys."

 _"Feel free to call us anytime, after all, fire vehicles have to stick together."_  The warmth in Patch's voice was palpable, and the structural rig knew that he could trust her word. After a comfortable pause, the tug performed the radio handshake to end the conversation.  _"Well, unless you need anything else, Air Attack Dispatch, out."_

The next 15 passed, in what felt like a small eternity. It was incredibly challenging for a fire rig to watch flames growing without attempting to attack it. It made him feel powerless. But he also knew that the fire was too big for him to safely handle on his own and that help was on its a twin-tailed aircraft pass above him and a rain of parachutes coming down towards him, Pulaski finally relaxed. Today may be a crappy day, but at least it was nice to know that even when he felt completely alone, the smokejumpers and Air Attack team were willing to come to his rescue.

* * *

 _ **Term**_ -Larry-  _On a wildfire, when you hear someone using the call sign Larry, you know that there some significant staffing issues because a Larry means that there is only one person manning a particular rig. If hear the callsign One Larry, you know that you have a single person with a rig trying to tackle a section of the fire by themselves...this isn't safe, and most organizations try to avoid doing it whenever possible, so the callsign lets the IC and Dispatcher know that they really need to send additional personnel to support the solo firefighter._


	13. M is for M&M Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It didn't matter how sore you where, when there was a fire Smokejumpers would power through the pain to get the job done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note- I have often been asked how people in the emergency services keep doing their job when they are exhausted and hurting. To be honest, most of the time, we don't have time to think about just how good it would be to just stay in bed. We are too busy trying to make sure our community is safe...that said, ibuprofen is your friend and I never respond to a disaster without a bottle because a little bit of pain relief can be the difference between breaking down and continuing to fight forward.

Windlifter was down for a count. His tail gearbox had failed unexpectedly and it was a minor miracle that the Skycrane had managed to make it back to base in one piece. While this type of gearbox failure was serious for an airplane or a ground vehicle, but it is positively deadly for a helicopter. Maru had practically cussed up a storm when he realized how badly the helio had chew through his gears to get home.

It had been close to a week and Windlifter was still under sedation in the mechanic's hanger while Maru completed the delicate surgery of repairing the damage. This meant that everyone but Cabbie and Blade were the only vehicles on base who would go anywhere near where the base mechanic was working. Cabbie came and went with the various supplies Maru needed to complete his work, and Blade swung by several times a day to make sure that the tug didn't starve.

While the frightening level of quiet on base allowed Maru work quickly, but it also meant that several members were doing their best to ignore things they would normally get checked out. This was particularly true for the smokejumpers who had recently experienced a pair of bad jumps. They had gotten to the point of having to practically drag themselves off their mats when Patch called for them to make a jump first thing in the morning.

This particular day was on par with the previous three. Dry lightning the yesterday afternoon had started a number of spot fires, which meant that the Air Attack Team was flying out to fight them at the crack of dawn. As soon as the wake-up call was sounded, Dynamite started to dig through the jumpers' backup medical kit.

"I have Motrin here for anyone who needs it." The ATV shook a half-empty bottle. Her entire team lined up as their team captain divided up the pills. Most of them downed the allotted pain pills with dregs of last night's coffee, but Avalanche didn't even bother with the bitter brew and dry swallowed the lot of them before heading to the hanger door. Dynamite nodded after him. "Well boys, let's get moving."

Days like this sucked rocks, but a wildland firefighter couldn't stay in bed just because they were banged up from of bad jumps. They were not that type of vehicle, because, despite the pain, they still had a job to do.

* * *

_**Term-**_  M&M Breakfast- _A Motrin and Move Breakfast occurs when you are too sore and slow moving to grab something to eat before you head out. Instead, you take a painkiller, try to power through things, and pray that you can get the fire out quickly so that you can have a real break to recuperate._


	14. N is for Nativity Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the hardest fires to flight are the ones on your own doorstep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular story is dedicated to the firefighters who keep battling the flames...even when their own home is in danger, or completely gone. On a completely other note, my computer has been analyzing my writing vocabulary and thinks that I am using the word 'fire' excessively.

* * *

Though the fire on the mountain in front of them was technically occurring inside Piston Peaks National Park, but based on the direction that the winds were pushing the flames it was only a matter of time it leapt from forest service land to park land. When it did, it there was a good chance that it would torch one of the only corners of Piston Peaks that hadn't burned out in the last mega fire. The situation was made even more dire by the fact that the Air Attack Team's base was smack dab in the middle of the projected danger zone.

With their park…their home in danger, the IC on the fire had allowed the Piston Peak's firefighting personal to head back home to regroup and plan. At the moment the various team leaders (mainly Blade, Pulaski, Dynamite, and Cabbie) were gathered around in a circle on the tarmac eyeing the available maps and aerial photographs. Based on their facial expressions, things were not looking good.

"Well that is a nativity scene if I have ever saw one." Maru muttered, rolling up on the huddle of Smokejumpers.

"I JUST WISH THEY WOULD MAKE A DECISION." Avalanche rumbled while settling a little bit lower on his treads. "I DON'T LIKE SITTING HERE WHEN WE COULD BE ON THE FIRE LINE INSTEAD."

"I know, all this waiting is making me nervous." Blackout added, looking dejected.

"Buck up, at least you were all able to grab a quick meal and get cleaned up."

"That is nice, but I would rather be doing…."Drip started, only to be interrupted by the top brass breaking out of their huddle.

"EVERYBODY CIRCLE UP!" Dynamite bellowed, causing an explosion of movement as everyone rushed over. Blade, Pulaski, Dynamite, and Cabbie, all gave each other a look before Blade locked his wheels, took a deep breath and launched into his speech.

"Okay everyone, here is the plan. We have 45 minutes to do everything we can do to protect and fireproof our base." The helicopter spoke stressed, precision. "I know that many of you may have personal effects or specialized equipment that need to be out of harm's way. You have 15 minutes to get them loaded into Cabbie. He will transport everything to the lodge and turn around. As soon as he gets back, we will evacuate."

"BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BASE?"

"It will either be here when the fire clears, or it will not." Cabbie rumbled. "Right now, it isn't the most critical piece of infrastructure. If we are going to have any chance of preventing the other half of the park from burning down, we are going to have to keep the roads open so that ground fire crews can move in

"Okay. Does everyone understand our orders?" There was a motley choir of yes Sirs in response. "Good, our clock is ticking. Get to it."

* * *

 _ **Term**_ \- Nativity Scene-  _When you have a group of high ranking firefighters standing in a circle either eyeing the fire or eyeing maps of the fire while the common are standing around, it called at Nativity Scene...it usually also means that trouble is on the horizon._


	15. O is for On The Board

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pinecone knew that she was a charity case...she just hoped that Chief and the Captain would be gentle with the news when the finally kicked her out.

* * *

She knew that she was a charity case…the whole everyone insisting on calling her Pinecone after the team had had to pick out bits of the pointy seeds for hours after her first jump out of Cabbie had gone so very terribly wrong, was proof of that. She didn't have the same type of training that many of the other applicants for the slot had had, and she knew that she also wasn't exactly a dainty vehicle. Then there were the protective looks that the other jumpers kept giving her…almost as though they knew that she was running away from something.

In the end, though, none of that really mattered. A base like Piston Peak Air Attack could only keep a charity case on their books for so long. The Telehandler had officially finished her smokejumper training last week, and had spent the last few days being put through a series of tests to determine if she should be licensed…and it was the perfect time to kick her out. All that the Chief and the Captain had to do was give her a bad evaluation, and she would once again be packing her bags.

Still, she was trying to make the best of the situation. She put all of her effort into the chores that needed to happen around the base, savoring the time that she had left under the watchful eye of the captain, working tire and tread with vehicles that she could almost imagine being her brothers. They were clearing a particularly neglected snarly of undergrowth on the north side of the runway, when the crew work was interrupted.

"Dynamite." Chief Blade Ranger spoke gruffly as he stuck his nose out his hanger. "A moment please."

"Don't worry." The Captain smiled as she, passed her on the way to the boss's hanger.

Time froze…Yes, she could tell that the smokejumpers were trying to talk to her, but she just couldn't focus on what they were saving. She was so nervous that all she wanted to do was puke all over tarmac. At this point, she hoped that the Captain would at least let her down gentle…that the bad news wouldn't shatter what was left of her self-confidence.

"So…How did I do?" The Telehandler asked with baited breath, not daring to hope too much. Then her fire captain's mouth split into a massive grin, and the trainee smokejumper felt her tank flop in unexpected excitement.

"Congrats Pinecone, you passed all your quals. You are officially on the board." Dynamite's voice was practically swelling with pride. "Let's go talk to Maru and pick out your new paint job."

The cheering that followed her was thunderous.

* * *

_**Term-**_ On The Board-  _When you pass a qualification and are cleared to start a new task, your name is often added to the task board. Basically, it means that you are cleared for duty. The wait between your test and finding out if you got on the board is the worst though. As someone who has gone through the process several times, I can totally relate with Pinecone._


	16. P is for Pavement Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just because Pulaski wasn't in her weight class, didn't mean that Dynamite couldn't comment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I need to give this story a little bit of a disclaimer. When I was writing this, I knew exactly the max slope Pulaski could drive up. After the piece was completely written I discovered that based on the type of vehicle Pulaski is, I literally have no clue how he is going to get back down that slope.

While supporting your fellow firefighters was always a good idea, sometimes it kind of sucked. For Pulaski, today was one of those days. This particular afternoon the smokejumpers team captain had called for backup. Apparently there dozer, who he was pretty sure was named Avalanche, had gotten himself pinned between a rock and a hard spot and Dynamite that the application of water might make it easier to slide him out.

The ATV had talked Pulaski through the situation and given him the GPS coordinate for their location. Pulaski had topped off his tank with water and Rake had pulled the confined spaces rescue kit, then the two of them had headed out with flashing lights. Only when they had traveled as far as they could via road did the engine realize that Dynamite may have left out a couple critical facts.

"You have got to be kidding me." Pulaski stared at the at least 40% slope; he then glanced down at partner. "Rake, you are in charge of stopping traffic because I have a feeling that I am going to be knocking down some impressive boulders getting up that mountain."

Rake gave a quick affirmative and pulled out a stack of cones. Once the flow of traffic had been stopped, Pulaski took a deep breath and took a running start at the hill.

It was basically impossible to miss the large, heavy fire apparatus attempting to make its way up the mountain to their location. For one thing, he was bright yellow. For another, every once a while his undercarriage was making a high pitched screeching sound whenever it rubbed against a rock.

* * *

"Here comes the cavalry." Dynamite announced for Avalanche's benefit then glancing over at the trapped dozer she decided it was time to get a bit creative. "And it is a good thing that he isn't a member of our team, because with as hot as he is looking in the field I might have to ask him out."

"Too much information!" Drip shouted up from where he was trying to clear the brush from around where Avalanche was trapped.

"Hey, we may be in completely different weight classes, but that doesn't mean I can't respect a big, handsome hunk of metal when I see one." Dynamite grinned mischievously.

"I AGREE WITH DRIP, THAT IS WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION." The stuck dozer agreed. After all, Dynamite was like their older sister…or their mom…either way, they really had no interest in finding out her about love interests.

"Men." Dynamite said with an exaggerated eye roll. "Pinecone are you at least going to back me up."

Pinecone opened her mouth, glanced at the rest of her team, and then quickly closed it before making an unintelligible sound.

"Traitors. The whole lot of you, traitors." Dynamite said with the flourish of a tire, but the fire captain couldn't help be a little bit relieved. The conversation had help to dispel the underlying feeling of panic that the smokejumpers had been fighting since Avalanche got jammed, exactly as she had hoped.

* * *

"What?" Pulaski asked, eyeing the crowd smokejumpers once he had finally managed crawl his way up the mountain. The crew was giving him a really weird look that the engine couldn't put his tire on.

"Nothing." Dynamite replied, a smile dancing on the corner of our lips. "We just talking about how glad we are you are comfortable going off-road. We had been a bit worried that we might have gotten stuck working with a Pavement Queen."

Two of the male smokejumpers rolled their eyes at their captain's statement, which kind of made the fire engine think that the conversation had been a bit more involved than that.

"CAN YOU GET ME OUT OF HERE NOW?" Avalanche's question ended brought that line of questioning to an end.

"Yeah, let's figure out how to you out buddy."

* * *

_**Term-**  _Pavement Queens-  _There are a whole lot of fire apparatuses that never go off-road. Whether they are road bound because of the design limitations of the vehicle or because the fire department doesn't want to deal with the damage and dirt driving in the brush, when these vehicles get pulled in to fight wildfires they are called Pavement Queens. Often with eye rolls from the wildland and interface firefighters that will drive a 30 foot fire truck halfway up a mountain to hold a line._


	17. Q is for Quillpig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drip discovers that not all wildlife like him.

It was supposed to be a nice, little controlled burn. The smokejumpers had cut the fire line and were just about to pull out the torches when Drip had spotted some movement in the grass. In a split second decision, he decided to check it out. It was a decision that he quickly regretted.

"Drip, what have I told you about getting friendly with the wildlife?" Dynamite chided as she tried took a good look at the damage.

"I didn't know it was a Porcupine." The little skid-steer mumbled miserably through a mouthful of quills.

"All I can say, is you are really lucky that you didn't get any in your eyes." The ATV moved away, satisfied that while the quills were probably really painful, but didn't hit anything that couldn't be easily repaired. "Let's get you to Maru so that he can get you cleaned up."

"Can't you pull them out?"

"Nope." Dynamite moved to a position behind Drip's back bumper. "Don't have to tools or the dexterity. Now move!" The fire captain said with a shove.

Drip had, of course, locked his treads, and there was no amount of coxing that Dynamite or any of the other smokejumpers tried could convince him to move under his own power. In the end, they had thrown him on a sled which was tethered between Avalanche and Pinecone. The dozer led the sad little crew down the mountain, clearing the way and providing the power. Pinecone followed the sled providing the breaks.

The smokejumpers actually bit their tongues and didn't many any comments about Drip's current condition during the entire trip back to base, despite the fact that the skid-steer looked incredibly ridiculous. They could tell that their fellow was currently too miserable to find any of their comments funny. When they finally got Drip back to base, Maru didn't show nearly as much restraint. Even as the mechanic worked to make his patient comfortable, he couldn't help but gentle rib Drip about his mistake.

"Am I going to re-nickname you Quillpig, cause I have to admit that you have an impressive set of spines." Maru asked, as the sedative started to take hold.

Even half asleep, the glare that Drip gave was withering.

* * *

 _ **Term-**_  Quillpig-  _When you work in the great outdoors sometimes you will come in contact with wildlife. Some of those encounters are amazing; others prove to be painful. If you make a run in with a porcupine and come out of the encounter a bit more prickly, you are officially a Quillpig._


	18. R is for Romper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of the Great Piston Peaks Fire the Smokejumpers discovers just how much of a pain the reports for a Romper can be.

Most of the time when the smokejumpers fought a fire, the only person that needed do paperwork was Blade, though if someone had gotten injured on the job Dynamite and Maru usually had to file a report as well. This said, most fires that the smokejumpers tried to control didn't burn 60% of a National Park to the ground, so it wasn't too surprising when the Feds sent in a team of Fire Investigators to figure out exactly what happened.

All six members of the jump team tried to remain grateful that the Fire Investigators had been the one group in the long stream of officials that had been interested in them. After all, Blade had been stuck with meetings and reports for days now. They had only had been dragged into a meeting for a couple of hours now and the whole group of jumpers felt like their brains were going to melt. Literally, it felt like they were asking them the same thing over and over again. Then, the jumpers were asked something that forced them to pause.

"So, is there thing particular that useful that you learned fighting this fire?"

All of the smokejumpers glanced at each other at this questions. Then, by some unspoken agreement, Avalanche opened his mouth. "WELL, WE LEARNED THAT WHEN DYNAMITE TRIES TO CALL A WIMPY LITTLE FIRE A ROMPER, WE WON'T BELIEVE HER ANYMORE."

The officials stared at the jumpers for a few piston beats and then burst out into laughter.

"Is that so." The little forklift said while scribbling a comment on her notepad. While she kept her tone serious, it was impossible not to see the smile that was playing on the corners of her mouth. "Please enlighten me, take a moment and tell us about some of the previous 'Rompers' you have fought."

It was Drip's turn to speak up, which was probably for the best because the little skid-steer was probably the best storyteller in the group…even if he wasn't always the most accurate one. Luckily for him, Pinecone and Avalanche would steer him back to the topic at hand when his stories got a bit too embellished. Before anyone noticed, the group and talked late into the night. All of the fire investigators' questions had been asked, and it was time for them to head back to the lodge.

"You could stay up here if you wanted. There is a couple of berths left in the jump hanger and we could always put you up in the main hanger." Dynamite informed the investigation team when she realized just how late the hour was.

"Naw, we will head back to the lodge and let your crew decompress." The lead investigator nodded towards the gaggle of vehicles that were quickly disappearing into the jumper hanger. "After the hours they answered questions, I suspect they need it."

"Did you at least get everything that you need?"

"That and more. I can honestly say that this has been one of the most entertaining interviews that I have conducted in decades." The jeep said with a kind smile. "You have a good crew, take care of them."

"I always do." Dynamite acknowledged, looking fondly towards the hanger where the jumpers were making an absolute ruckus getting ready for bed.

"Now you better get you boys to bed before they wake up the rest of camp."

"Actually this is pretty normal, which is why I think they bunked the jumpers on the opposite side of the runway from the aircraft hangers." Dynamite chuckled softly.

"Still, I suspect that if they are that loud they are going to negatively affect everyone's sleep. And speaking of sleep and should get my own team to bed. Blue skies to you and your team." The head investigator said with a final nod before leading his team on the road out of the base.

"Blue skies to you as well." Dynamite called after the group. The fire captain for a few long moments as the investigator's headlights disappeared into the forest before turning back to the hanger and her team.

* * *

**_Term_** \- Romper- _A Romper, or Stomper, depending which part of the country you are in is a really big fire. What a team considers to be a romper will change over time as they work larger and larger fires, so the Smokejumpers are probably stuck thinking that any fire that doesn't burn down have the park is small. Rompers also cause a lot of damage so they are usually followed by a flock of fire investigators and more paperwork than you can shake a stick at._


	19. S is for Snore Inhibitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the day Avalanche was clearly the loudest vehicle on base...but at night Dynamite took the cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this officially the shortest post of the entire series. Still, hope that you will enjoy it. :)

When awake, Avalanche was clearly the loudest member of the smokejumper crew, but while he could saw logs with the best of them when he was asleep he couldn't claim the title of Piston Peak's loudest snorer. No, that particular title went to Dynamite when she had clogged filter.

"So, are you going to wake her up?" Blackout yawned as he nudged Avalanche.

"I WOKE HER UP THE LAST THREE TIMES." The dozer replied tiredly.

"But you are basically the second in command. It is totally your job to take one for the team." Drip countered.

"STILL NOT DOING IT AGAIN. SHE KEEPS GIVING ME EXTRA CHORES WITH I WAKE HER UP EARLY AND THERE ISN'T AN EMERGENCY."

"Pinecone why don't you give it a try?" Blackout suggested.

"Pinecone convinced Patch to let her bunk with her two nights ago, remember?" Drip practically groaned. "We could try the snore inhibitor again."

"And that worked so well the last couple of times we tried it." Blackout shot back.

"AT THIS POINT I AM SO TIRED THAT I AM WILLING TO TRY PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING." Avalanche admitted as he pulled out a small jar of pepper.

The three exhausted smokejumpers waved the pepper beneath Dynamite's air intake filter in the hope that it would cause the fire captain to sneeze and wake up. When that failed, they ended up pushing Dynamite across the apron and dropping off her still sleeping form in front of Maru's personal quarters in the mechanic's hanger. Dynamite's filters were swapped out by morning.

* * *

 _ **Term-**_  Snore Inhibitor- _When you work around fires you tend breath in a whole lot of smoke and ash. This leads your nose and throat to become irritated, and as a result, it increases the rate and volume of snoring. Even people who do not snore under normal conditions will start sawing logs. Particularly bad offenders will sometimes be offered pepper in their sleep in the hope that it will either wake them up or clear out some of the mucus in their nose/throat so the other members of the crew can get a little sleep._


	20. T is for Tourist Attraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much for a shower...

Streaked with ash and dirt, Dynamite wanted nothing than to hit the power washer and get clean again, but she knew that she couldn't do that until her team finished up mopping up the last of the flames and coals. In short, the only thing between her and the nice hot, steamy water, was the boring part of her job. Then the radio crackled to life.

 _"Piston Peak Smokejumper, Piston Peak Smokejumper, this is Lead. Over."_  The voice of Superintendent Jammer came through.

"Lead, this is Smokejumper Captain. Over."

_"Ah, Dynamite, just the vehicle I was hoping to catch. Is your team free for a moment?"_

The fire captain glanced at her people. The fire was technically 100% contained so as long as long as the task was a simple one they might be able to send one or two vehicles to help. "I guess…"

_"Good, because we have the remote broadcast truck from Channel 5 heading in your direction. They are doing a special interest piece about the Great Piston Peak Fire and they wanted to get some footage of firefighters in action. Base on my reports the fire that you are currently working is basically contained. If you think that it is safe, I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to show them what you do during a mop-up procedure."_

Dynamite sighed. There went any hope of getting a shower anytime soon.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon was shot. Instead of doing the normal mop-up procedures, Dynamite was stuck showing members of the media around the fire line while trying to make sure that her team didn't do anything stupid in front of the cameras. Given her crew's normal shenanigans they actually remained on their best behavior, and gave the media some particularly epic shots of them dealing with still smoldering logs.

When they team had finally given the media enough footage that they were willing to go away, Dynamite escorted them back to the safety of the lodge…where they were handed off to a serious looking Chief Blade Ranger. Well, he looked serious to anyone who didn't know him, to Dynamite the helicopter looked like he was pretty, darn annoyed with the world. While the media team's back bumpers were facing her, Dynamite stuck out her tongue and then gave him a wink. To Blade's credit, the only way that Dynamite knew that he had seen her was a slight twitch of his rotors.

On the way out, Dynamite was able to spot Jammer speaking to a couple of visitors. She pulled over and waited for him to finish up before speaking.

"Jammer."

"Yes?" The Superintendent gave the ATV his full attention and Dynamite sighed. The ranger probably didn't have a clue how much of wrench he had thrown into their day. Still, it was worth being polite.

"Next time you make us a tourist attraction, give us a bit more of a heads up."

* * *

 _ **Term-**  _Tourist Attraction- _Sometimes the media wants to get some epic shots of the fire or firefighters in action. When this happens, the higher-ups will pick a particularly protected tame corner of the fire and send them there. When this happens there are two expectations. First, the firefighters on this particular part of the line will be on their best behavior. Second, that limited actual work will get done, because you will get stuck making sure that they get the perfect shot._


	21. U is for UBI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some days Blade really didn't want to know what his smokejumpers had been up to. Today wasn't one of those.

"Do I want to know?" It was just before midnight on the second to last day of the fire season, and Blade had arrived back from an administrative meeting at the lodge only to find his entire smokejumper team sitting inside of his mechanic's hanger, looking as guilty as he had ever seen them…which given how many seasons Drip had been with them, that was a major feat.

The looks that Maru and Cabbie were giving him also spoke volumes. The mechanic's lopsided grin indicated that while several of the jumpers looked pretty darn scruffy at the moment, there wasn't going to be any permanent physical damage...though with as amused as the tug appeared, the helicopter suspected that all bets were off which it came to mental damage.

While the Maru looked like a cat that had just swallowed the canary, Cabbie's reaction to the whole situation appeared a mixture of paternal protectiveness and a strong desire to pretend that he had never laid eyes on the jumpers in his life. Under Blade's sharp gaze, it almost seemed like the C-119 was trying to sink into the pavement, but the warplane did hold his ground…even if the fact he also didn't answer the Chief's question was glaringly obvious.

'Interesting,' Blade mused to himself, though he made sure his serious expression even has his curiosity grew. Glancing away from the jump plane and towards the jumpers themselves, Blade started to put a few of puzzle pieces together. For one thing, the smokejumpers had been exceptionally diligent when it came to winterizing the base this year, completing the task in record time. Then there was the fact that Dynamite was actually softly giggling, not laughing but actually giggling between hiccups. Clearly whatever the smokejumpers had chosen to imbibe as part of their end of year celebrations had been….potent…

The helicopter sighed. Well, there was nothing he could really do about the situation now. "Didn't think so."

With that Blade turned on his wheels and headed back towards his hanger. He had reports that needed to get filed and as long as the jump team was functional by the next morning he could allow them a bit of latitude. As for the story of this evenings adventures? Blade knew that he had all winter to pry it out of Cabbie. Based on just how tight-jawed the jump plane was being, he suspected that effort was going to be completely worth it.

* * *

 _ **Term-**_  UBI-  _A UBI, otherwise known as Unidentified Beer Injury, is a term used to describe when a consumption of alcohol leads to an accident. Due to regulations, this tends to only happen to a firefighter when they are off duty. The use the term UBI to indicate that they were either too inebriated or too embarrassed to give their teammates the whole story._


	22. V is for Virga

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patch had always wondered why a vehicle would want to become a smokejumper, now she knows...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So out of all of the characters at the Piston Peak Air Attack Base, Patch has always seemed to be the most elusive. I just had a hard time to pin her down in writing, so I was particularly happy with how this story turned out. Hope you enjoy! :)

It was ridiculous dry in the park. The sun beat down baking the earth beneath it and the wind blew but nothing but dust. Occasionally a stray rain cloud would wander across the sky, but its rain would evaporate long before it reached the ground. That didn't stop Patch from dreaming. When most of the base was off fighting fires in the neighboring forest and she literally didn't have anything to do she would stare out the window and think about how cool and refreshing those phantom showers would be. They were so close and yet they were also completely out of reach.

"Sometimes I wish that I could just reach out and touch you…"

"I bet Cabbie would take you if asked him." Maru spoke up from behind her, and Patch nearly jumped clean out of her tires.

"But he is a busy plane." The tug finally replied when her pistons slowed to a more reasonable speed.

"Not when the smokejumpers are already deployed and our budget is shot for the season so he isn't going to shopping for supplies anytime soon."

"I wouldn't want to impose…" Patch started, then she noticed that Maru was starting to get a wicked grin and rolling towards the door. "Maru, stop…I said stop!"

She was too late.

"Cabbie!" Maru tried to call out the control tower, but quickly realized that there was no way that the cargo plane was going to hear him a crossed the base. The mechanic rolled back in an snatched up the radio receiver instead. "Cabbie."

_"Yes."_  A familiar voice crackled over the base's com channel.

"You busy."

_"Not at the moment."_  The aircraft sighed realizing that he was about to get dragged into something.

"Good, cause Patch desperately needs to go touch a cloud."

There was a long pause, and Patch could see Cabbie eyeing the clouds above them through the tower window.  _"Okay, I think that can be arranged. But make sure that she takes some anti-nausea medication. I am not in the mood for an internal cleaning."_

"Roger that. I will have her geared up and ready to go in 15." Maru grinned as he put radio receiver away and turned to the dispatcher. "Okay Patch, let's get suited up."

"But…" Patch stammered trying to let her brain catch up with what was going on.

"But what. You have been complaining all week about how slow it has been up here, and you have talked nonstop about just how bad heat was. This will let you get away from both of those things."

"I still need to get my job done."

"One moment." Maru held up a tine, picked up the phone. Hitting the speed dial, he listened to a couple of rings before someone on the other end picked up. "Hello, is this the lodge dispatch office?...Very good, this is the chief mechanic up at the air attack base…No there isn't any problem, we just wanted to give you some heads up that our tower is going to be down for about two hours…Great, Patch will formally perform the hand off when we take things offline, I just wanted to give you a heads up so no one worried about things…Thanks we appreciate that you will keep things covered." Maru hung up the phone and grinned at Patch. "Well, now that that has been taken care of you have about 5 minutes to give Blade and the others a heads up that they will be talking lodge tower for a while. Then we have to get you in a harness so that we don't leave Cabbie waiting."

"We wouldn't want to do that." Patch bit back sarcastically, but she knew already knew that she had lost this particular battle.

Transferring all of her duties to the lodge tower had been a simple task. Getting strapped into Cabbie's cargo compartment had been significantly more involved. Maru went a little bit over kill with the harnesses, but Patch knew it was because the mechanic wanted to be absolutely certain that the dispatcher wouldn't accidentally fall out of the C-119. After all, while Maru had attached an emergency parachute, both tugs knew that Patch wasn't exactly trained to use it.

* * *

Take off had been uneventful. She had gone through a couple of dozen flights in Cabbie's cargo bay and this one was no different. Then Cabbie had opened his beaver tail doors and Patch had gotten a good look at the ground. It was completely different from watching the ground from a seat in a commercial aircraft. She wasn't staring out a little window off the side of the plane…instead, the world spread out beneath her like…well she couldn't exactly find the right words to describe it.

"Look up." Cabbie prompted. When Patch did the sight took her breath away. Her canopy was only feet away from the lowest wisps of cloud. She bet that if she really reached out, she would be able to let one of her tines pass through the mist. It was incredibly beautiful.

"How did you know?" The dispatcher finally was able to choke out in response to the awe.

The deck plates beneath Patch's wheels vibrated with the deep rumble of Cabbie's chuckle. "The same thing always happens with the smokejumpers on their first ride. They get so infatuated with looking at the ground they forget that sometimes the most beautiful views are up."

The plane took a long banking turn, before heading up into the clouds. It was a choppy flight, but Patch was so focused on the wonderful sights around her that she barely even noticed the turbulence. The plane and passengers darted in and out of the cloud, playing in sunlight and shadow, in cool white and blinding blue.

"Want to do something that I can't do with most of the jumpers?" Cabbie asked, after they had been in the air for a while.

"Sure." Patch said absentmindedly, her focus entirely on the rainstorm around her. "What…"

Then both of Cabbie's engines shut off. At first, Patch had to bite back a scream, and then she realized that they were not falling. In fact, the flight had gotten significantly smoother as the plane stopped fighting and started to dance on the thermals.

"It is the virga." Cabbie finally explained into the silence. "We are catching the updraft caused by the rain evaporating back up to the cloud above. Normally I would be too heavy for the thermals to carry my bulk so this type of storm would only cause severe turbulent, but you weigh a whole lot less than my jumpers so we can get away with it."

Patch mumbled a small sound of understanding, before turning her attention situation at hand. The tug felt as the rain disappeared nearly as soon as it touched her skin…like the ghost of a storm. It was possibly the most magical thing that she had ever experienced.

Unfortunately, like all moments of magic, it was eventually broken. The virga weakened and started to fall apart. As the turbulent started to get worse, Cabbie closed his beaver tail doors and started up his engines. Neither vehicle spoke on the way down, leaving Patch alone with her thoughts. For a long time she had wondered why the smokejumpers would choose such a dangerous career, but after having the opportunity to touch the sky Patch couldn't help but wonder what it would take to do it again.

* * *

_**Term-**_  Virga-  _A Virga is a rainstorm whose precipitation doesn't make it all the way to the ground. While they are tough to fly through in a powered aircraft, the strong updrafts make them a wonderful place for gliders to play. Oh, and many of the firefighters I know consider them to be bad luck because they bring winds but no rain which makes active fires hard to handle._


	23. W is for Water Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dusty barks up the wrong tree.

May was usually a pretty calm time for the members of the Piston Peak's air attack team, but this particular year was proving to be a bit of exception. A dry winter meant that the snowpack had already melted off and a series of dry thunderstorms had already torched patches of dying pine trees. To add insult to injury Dusty recertification visit hit right in the middle of the worst spat of fires. While it was nice to have an extra pair of tanks to battle the flames, it also meant trying to incorporate another vehicle temporarily into the team.

In a way, the team's luck had finally changed. But as far as the smokejumpers were concerned the change wasn't necessarily an improvement. Right around 2 am the clouds had opened up and dumped rain on them. The jumpers hadn't even had enough time to put up some tarps for shelter, so they ended up spending the rest of the night huddling up against each other to conserve heat. It was close to dawn by the time that everyone finally drifted back to sleep…which was of course right around the time when a certain plane jumped on the radio.

"Are you sure that there is a fire there?" Dynamite asked a frantic sounding Dusty for clarification as she checked out her surroundings from the lookout point. From her vantage point there was nothing amiss.

_"Yes, I am tracking a pretty impressive column of smoke right now."_  The plane insisted.

"Do you see any flames?" The ATV pushed as she watched the plane circling above her.

_"No…"_  Dusty admitted, but that didn't reduce his certainty.  _"But I see the smoke, and where there's smoke, there's fire."_

"Well, keep an eye on things and let us know if it moves in our direction." Dynamite sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to convince Dusty that what he was probably seeing was a combination of mist and steam. "We will continue to wrap up our tasks here and go investigate when we have more air support."

_"Understood. I will keep my eyes on the fire and keep you in the loop if I see any changes."_ Then the little aircraft was gone, probably jetting off to another part of the park to chase down another column of steam. Dynamite slowly picked her way down the wet, slippery slope.

"WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?" Avalanche asked when she finally got to the bottom.

"As far as I can tell Dusty is chasing columns of steam." She sighed, knowing it was a very common rookie mistake. So common, in fact, that she remembered making it herself. "But regardless of that, it is about time to get moving anyway."

"SHOULD I GO WAKE EVERYONE UP?"

"Nah, I will do it." Dynamite waved the dozer off. "You go get breakfast started."

* * *

Normally Blade would not choose to take his coffee in the rain, but he had been keeping an eye on Dusty as the little plane frantically racing across the soggy, burned out landscape chasing after columns of steam.

"So were you planning on explaining water dogs to him?" Maru asked, as the mechanic took up a spot just inside the Chief's rotor span.

"Not before I finish my coffee."

"Touché." Maru admitted as he took a final drag from his own mug. "Well, I am going to grab a second cup, would you like me to top you up?"

The Helicopter glanced at the frantically flying SEAT, then down to his mug, before nudging it to Maru. "That would be wonderful."

* * *

_**Term**_ \- Water Dogs-  _When it rains heavy enough over a wildfire the rainwater will actually put out the fire. This causes a massive column of steam to rise from the earth. If you are an inexperienced wildland firefighter, you will probably confuse that column of steam with a column of smoke and go chasing after the water dogs looking for the flames. Usually when this happens the more experience firefighters will let the newbie make a fool of themselves for a while partically to make sure that the lesson fully sinks in...and partically for their own entertainment._


	24. X is for XO

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being in command was all fun and games until the paperwork arrived.

It was Piston Peaks National Park was turning a hundred…which pretty much meant that the entire park was about to be completely swamped by visitors. Superintendent Jammer had been working on the event for months, and every single department Piston Peaks had a role to play. The Air Attack's team was twofold. The first was to provide their normal fire suppression duties. The second was to provide IC and communication support for the rest of the departments.

Given how small the Air Attack team was, there was only one possible way for this to work out. Blade was going to have to take on the role of Incident Commander and be stationed down at the lodge, while Patch would run the park's communication system from the tower on base. Cabbie would step up and take over dispatching duties, while Windlifter as the team's XO would be the acting chief. This solved all possible issues…except who was going to get stuck filing all the day to day paperwork.

"Cabbie…" Windlifter tried to start at his first base meeting.

"You really, really don't want to head down that road." The C-119 interrupted, and in rare, dangerous tone to his voice. The Skycrane wisely took a hint and turned to the ATV instead.

"I will toss you for it." He asked changing his tack.

"Listen Windy, you couldn't pay me enough to take on that job." Dynamite gave the Skycrane a look, before turning on her tires and heading back to the smokejumper team. "Have fun."

For the fourth time in as many minutes, Windlifter once again found himself wishing that Blade would have promoted Dipper into the XO slot over him. Oh well, the big helicopter sighed to himself. At least Maru had been kind enough to bring him a tall mug of coffee because the mechanic had somehow known that there was no way that Windlifter was going to manage to dig through all of these forms without at least a little bit of caffeine on board.

Pen in mouth, Windlifter dug into the work that was the bane of every Air Boss's existence and prayed that he would get done with it before the Smokejumpers ate all the food that Blackout cooked for lunch.

* * *

 ** _Term-_**  XO-  _The executive officer otherwise known as the XO is the second in command. When you have a large organization they often deal with day to day issues such as ordering supplies or dealing with discipline. In small teams like the Piston Peak Air Attack Team, the XO is mostly a backup leader for when the Cheif gets called in to complete other duties._


	25. Y is for Yard Sale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caffeine and smokejumpers can sometimes be a really bad combination.

Boredom and smokejumpers were a terrible combination in the best of situations, but when add you a near overdose of caffeine things on base really started to go sideways.

The current misadventure had begun with a grateful visitor had dropped off a care package to thank the Air Attack team for locating their kid, who had wandered away from their campsite on their last trip. Unfortunately for everyone, the grateful parent in question was the an executive at a local soda manufacturing company and so instead of bringing the normal offering of homemade cookies, he brought several bottles of their newest energy drink…which the smokejumpers had insisted on pounding down with dinner…

It wasn't until the next morning when Cabbie attempted to get the first pot of coffee going, when the full consequences of last night's revelry became clear. As far as any of the aircraft could tell, the smokejumpers had tried to 'clean' the storage sheds and spare hanger. The sear amount of stuff that was moved did help explain clanks and thuds that had reverberated through the base last night, sadly it seemed that smokejumpers had only enough energy to pull everything out and leave it in haphazard piles on the tarmac before the caffeine and sugar crash hit.

Cabbie was still trying to figure out how to make his way across the minefield stuff so that he could get to the main hanger, when Blade got up for his morning patrol. The fire chief took one look at the chaos he kicked himself into a hover. Moments later, the helicopter landed heavily on the roof of the smokejumper's hanger. By the squawks that came from inside, he probably woke the whole lot of gravel munchers.

"Dynamite."

"Yes." The ATV yawned as she peeked through hanger door, a response which didn't improve Blade's mood.

"I don't care whose stuff it is, whose idea it was to move it, or why they thought it was a good idea, you will get this yard sale off my tarmac before I get back from the morning patrol."

With that Blade took off and headed in the direction of the lodge…probably to see if he could scare up his own morning cup of Joe…leaving Cabbie still trying to figure how he was going to get to the hanger to get his own pot of coffee.

* * *

 _ **Term-**  _Yard Sale-  _When a firefighter leaves their crap everywhere they are leaving a yard sale for everyone else to clean up. These types of yard sales tend to happen in communal spaces such as the base or the transport vehicle, but can be done where ever a bunch of firefighters are located._


	26. Z is for Zipper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again boredom brings chaos in its wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we have made it to the end of the alphabet. I hope that you have enjoyed reading S is for Smokejumpers. At this moment I would like to ask you a question, would you like to see another one of these story advent calendars next year? The only reason this story got done in time for the holidays was because I was stuck traveling in locations that didn't have internet access. As a result, I had to write stories that didn't involve a whole lot of research. If I would like this type of special to occur next December, I would like to start in January.
> 
> On a completely different note, this story was inspired by a bunch of scientists that I have worked with in the past. Whenever they got bored they started throwing things such as rocks, soil knives, and other pieces of equipment. As the leader of the field crew, it was often my job to inform the scientists that it was time to get back to work. Those lectures tended to not stick very long. Watching the smokejumpers on the screen they really reminded my of some of my former team members so I suspect they would get into the same type of trouble.

When Drip had signed up to become a firefighter he had dreamed about being an epic hero facing down massive walls of flames. In reality his job was a whole lot more boring than that. Yes, he did actual firefighting, but most of his day to day work fit solidly in the 'other duties as assigned' part of his contract. At the moment he and his team had been pulled from doing controlled burns to help with trail cleanup. And while this was not Drip's least favorite assignment it didn't stop the task from being mind-numbingly boring.

The young skid steer was trying to figure out a way to keep from dying from said boredom, when a small rock got stuck in one of his trends. Frustrated, Drip revved up his engine trying to loosen the pebble…which caused him to launch the rock towards the other smokejumpers. Blackout swore in Spanish as the rock nearly hit him as it flew past.

Everyone froze for a moment, letting the existence of the zipper sink in. This of course gave Drip enough time to get another rock set in his tread and to fling it at the team's swamper. Blackout was a little bit more prepared this time and he once again successfully ducked the rock as it whistled by. After the fourth rock was launched, it was pretty darn clear that the game had completely distracted the two smokejumpers from their assigned tasks.

"Drip, just because you have figured out how to fling rocks doesn't mean that you can throw them at Blackout just to check his reflexes." Dynamite said glaring at the youngest member of the team.

The fire captain's threat last for about five minutes, as soon as she had rounded the corner to scout ahead Drip let another rock fly. It made a satisfying thud against a nearby. The little skid steer was revving up to see if he could hit the same spot twice in a row, when his fellow smokejumpers decided to take control of the situation.

"OKAY THAT'S IT!" Avalanche dropped what he was doing and rolled over to the camping gear. After a moment of digging through things he located his prize. "I AM TOTALLY CLAIMING ALL THE MARSHMALLOWS."

All the smokejumper groaned at that, but they got back to work which was what really mattered. As for the marshmallows, it turned out that it was an empty threat. While Avalanche kept hold of the bag for the rest of the day he shared the loot with the rest of the team when the gathered around the fire that evening.

* * *

 _ **Term-**_ Zipper-  _When a rock gets stuck in your equipment and then thrown at a high rate of speed that rock is a_ _zipper. While it makes everyone's life exciting they can cause real damage or even kill if they hit someone. As a result, zippers are generally things that are to be avoided at all cost._

_**Author's Note-**  Well that is a wrap. Another story is complete. I will back posting chapters on my other stories starting January 1. Merry Christmas everyone, C-130 signing out._


End file.
